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How to Classify Diamond Clarity & Color

Purchasing a diamond can be a large investment, and understanding how diamonds are classified is important before making your big buy. Classifications for diamonds include carat, cut, clarity and color, known as the four C's. The better the ranking in the four C's, the more valuable and costly the diamond is. Clarity and color are very important factors as they both affect the appearance of the diamond. Clarity describes the clearness of the diamond, while color defines how white to yellow on a specific scale the diamond is. All of these classifications were developed by the Gemological Institute of America and the American Gem Society.

Things You'll Need

Diamond
Diamond certification
White paper
Pen and paper
10x magnification jeweler's loupe

Instructions

- 1
  Place your diamond on a white piece of paper and compare the color. If you have a colorless diamond to compare against the diamond you are classifying, that will be helpful too.
- 2
  Look at the diamond under the loupe if you are unable to distinguish a difference between the white in the paper and the white in the diamond. This may help you find a slight color difference to classify your diamond. According to the Gemological Institute of America's coloring grading scale, color classifications begin at D, colorless, along with E and F, also colorless. The next grading includes G, H, I and J, and is called "near colorless." However, G and H are considered to be white, while I and J are slightly tinted white. K, L, M are the next grade, known as tinted white, and are slightly yellow. The color grading goes up to Z, with all of the grades after M called tinted color.
- 3
  Look at the diamond with the naked eye to see if you can identify any inclusions without using a loupe. An inclusion is any distinguishing characteristic in a diamond, also called blemishes. An inclusion is found within the diamond, while a blemish is found on the surface of the diamond. If you are able to see an inclusion with the eye, the diamond is classified as I1, I2 or I3. This is a very low grade in clarity, and many jewelers do not carry diamonds with I grade clarity.
- 4
  Draw an outline of your diamond on paper and mark any inclusions you could see with your eye.
- 5
  Look at the diamond under a 10x magnification jeweler's loupe. Start at the top of the diamond and work your way down. Mark any inclusions on your diamond outline, trying to place them where they are found in the real diamond. Per the Gemological Institution of America, the best grade in clarity is flawless, FL, in which you will not see any inclusions. The next best grade is VVS1 and VVS2, where any inclusion will be very difficult to see even with a 10x magnification loupe. VS1 and VS2 are very slightly included, and inclusions can be seen with effort under a loupe. SI1 and SI2 are slightly included and have noticable inclusions, SI2 having the larger inclusion of the two grades.

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